


Dad and Pop

by patchfire, raving_liberal



Series: The Hudmans [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: Adoption, Child Neglect, Established Relationship, Flashbacks, Foster Care, GleeBlast 2016, M/M, Parenthood, Social Workers, Work Up For Adoption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 08:32:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5999046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patchfire/pseuds/patchfire, https://archiveofourown.org/users/raving_liberal/pseuds/raving_liberal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They signed up to be foster parents. They didn't realize how much more important the "parents" part of that would be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dad and Pop

_It was Puck’s idea initially: “We should sign up to be foster parents.”_

_Finn agreed it made sense. Puck and his little sister Jenna had spent a couple of weeks in the system after Puck’s dad left. His mom couldn’t keep it together, Puck’s Nana was in the hospital having a hip replacement and couldn’t take them, and neither of Puck’s parents had any other family in Ohio. CPS was able to keep the two of them together until Puck’s mom got them back, but the memory of the foster home was something that stuck with Puck. Finn was the only one of all of their friends who ever had any clue._

_“Yeah, we should,” Finn had agreed, because if that was something important to Puck, it was important to Finn, too._

_They were over 21, had a two-bedroom apartment in Akron, made a decent enough income. No criminal record—Puck’s record of his very brief stint in juvie was sealed—or any history of violence or substance abuse. Same-sex couple, sure, but they were married, and it’s not like the state of Ohio had a surplus of foster parents. After the background checks and the home visit and the training courses, they were approved to foster, and then it was only a matter of waiting._

_Finn assumed they would have to wait a little longer than they actually did._

 

Puck doesn’t immediately register that the loud noise waking him up is his phone ringing. He stays half-awake and half-asleep for at least another ring before Finn elbows him, which means he’s not dreaming the noise, anyway. He fumbles for the phone and clears his throat as he answers the call. 

“Hello?” 

“Mister Hudman?” a woman’s voice asks. “Noah or Finn Hudman?”

“This is Noah,” Puck says, sitting up at her tone of voice. 

“This is Eileen Wiley with Summit County Children Services. We have a six-month-old girl we need to place, and we have you and your husband listed as willing to take an infant.”

“Oh, right, right, yeah. We are. Right now?” Puck asks, looking around to figure out what time it is before remembering he’s holding his phone against his ear. 

“She’s in our offices at the moment, but yes, now would be good,” says Eileen Wiley with Summit County Children Services. “Do you have an infant car seat?”

“No,” Puck says, still trying to process everything, and he makes a gesture at Finn that’s somehow supposed to communicate ‘get dressed’. “Not until Babies “R” Us opens in the morning.” 

Finn nods and gets up, starting to get dressed. “Baby stuff?” he whispers.

“We have a car seat you can use for now,” Eileen Wiley says. 

“Okay. Cool,” Puck says. “We’ll be there as soon we can. The main office, right?” 

“Yes. Someone will be waiting there to meet you.”

“Okay, thanks,” Puck says, then ends the call. “There’s a baby.” 

“A human baby?” Finn asks, still sounding a little disoriented. “Shit, like, for us to take home?”

“A…” Puck reviews the conversation in his head. “Six month old. Little girl. Yeah.” 

“Wow. I mean, I know we said we’d take a baby, and we had all those classes, but I guess I didn’t think they’d actually give us a baby.”

“There must be something bad with her parents,” Puck says. “I mean, more than usual. It’s the middle of the night!” 

“Yeah. Damn. Okay, they have some stuff we can take tonight?” Finn asks. “We don’t have any baby stuff here!”

“They have a car seat, and we can always go to Walmart if they don’t have bottles and formula,” Puck says. “And diapers and one of those pack and play things.” 

“Holy crap. A baby.”

Puck finally makes himself start pulling clothes on. “Yeah. A tiny baby. Poor thing.” 

“What could somebody do to a six-month-old baby that would make them take her away,” Finn says. “How could you do something awful to a baby?”

“I guess if someone did something awful to you? I don’t know,” Puck says, finding a pair of shoes. “Ready?” 

“Yeah. We can pick up some coffee on the way?”

Puck laughs shortly. “I think we’d better, right?” The drive to the main office, including a stop for coffee, feels like one of the shortest drives Puck’s ever taken and one of the longest. There are only two other vehicles in the lot, and Puck takes a deep breath after they park. “Ready?” 

“No,” Finn says. “But we’re doing this.”

“We’re more ready that she is. Do you think— I mean, she’s six months old. She has a name, right?” 

“Right. At least we don’t have to make up a name!” 

“Don’t say that to Eileen Wiley,” Puck says, then presses the button so Eileen or someone else can buzz them in. The door clicks, then Puck opens it and holds it for Finn. Finn gives him a dubious look as he walks in.

An older white woman with a severe haircut hurries towards them, hand extended. “Noah and Finn Hudman? I’m Eileen. We spoke on the phone.”

“I’m Noah, this is Finn,” Puck says as he takes her hand. “How’s the little girl?” 

“Her name is Marquette. She was brought into the E.R. early this evening with lethargy. She’s badly underweight and has a previously diagnosed heart defect that her mother hasn’t followed through with her doctors about,” Eileen says, turning and beginning to walk briskly towards the back of the office. “They rehydrated her, but she’s now been diagnosed with failure to thrive. With the lack of medical follow-through, we felt we needed to place her with a family while she was being treated. We’re hoping we can return her to her mother, of course, but for now?” She opens a door, holding it so Finn and Puck can walk through. Inside, an older black woman has a tiny baby in her arms. 

“She’s so small,” Finn says.

“Oh, damn,” Puck says softly under his breath, because he knows six month olds are supposed to be bigger. “Is she going to need surgery? Once she’s at a healthier weight?” 

“Yes. She has a ventricular septal defect. That means a hole in her heart. Sometimes they close on their own, but hers didn’t, and her mother didn’t follow up with the specialist. The doctor who saw her in the E.R. thinks she’ll need to have surgery soon,” Eileen says. 

“Okay. Her doctors’ names are with the paperwork we’ll get?” Puck asks. He steps closer to the older woman, who hasn’t yet said anything, and holds out his arms questioningly. The older woman stands and holds the tiny baby out to Puck.

“Here she is,” the woman says. “Her mother calls her Marqui.”

“Hi, Marqui,” Puck says softly to her, wincing a little at how light she is. “We’re going to take you home with us, okay?” She has more hair than Puck would have expected, straight and dark, and her relatively dark skin has a purplish undertone. “We’ll feed you plenty, okay?” He turns back towards Finn, leaning in a little. 

“She’s just so tiny,” Finn whispers.

“We have high-calorie formula for you to bring home with you, plus a prescription to get a special formula through the pharmacy. You can offer her some solids, but we have caloric fortifier to add to that, as well,” the older woman says. “I’m Loraine, by the way. I’m Marqui’s case worker, so we’ll probably get to know each other very well over the next few weeks.”

“Her eyes almost look too big,” Puck says. “Is that because of the failure to thrive? Oh, and I’m Noah, he’s Finn.” 

“Nice to meet you, Noah and Finn,” Loraine says. “And yes, she’ll grow into those eyes as she fills out.”

“How could anybody not take care of this baby?” Finn says, touching Marqui’s hair with one finger. 

“We’ll work with her mother with the goal of reuniting them, but that could take a while,” Loraine says. She has a tone in her voice that suggests she thinks it might be a _very_ long while.

Puck nods, looking down at Marqui, and he realizes maybe they didn’t take seriously enough the part where the goal is reuniting the foster babies and kids with their parents, because he already feels a little mad at the idea of the parents who let this happen to Marqui being in charge of her care again. 

“Since Noah’s holding Marqui, Finn, will you come with me to sign some paperwork?” Eileen asks. Finn nods and follows her out of the room, leaving Puck alone with Marqui and Loraine. 

“Do you want to sit?” Loraine asks Puck, gesturing at a glider rocker. 

“Oh, yeah, I guess so,” Puck says, carefully sitting. “She’s so tiny, I keep thinking I still need to support her head.”

“She’s a little behind developmentally, but she’s stronger than she looks,” Loraine reassures him.

“Just gross motor stuff?” Puck asks. “Does she, I don’t know. Have any favorite toys or anything?” 

“Her gross motor skills are slightly delayed. She tries to get toys in her mouth, but usually she can’t quite make it. Part of that’s the low muscle tone, so we’ll probably see fast improvement once she gains some weight.”

“And it was just her mom who had custody? No dad in the picture?” Puck asks. 

“No name on the birth certificate. We think he’s latino, based on what the mother has said. Mom is white. Young, but not a teen. Marqui is her second baby,” Loraine says. “She lost her previous child to SIDS, which is one reason why we’ve kept such a close eye on Marqui.”

“Oh, damn,” Puck says, frowning. “Genetics? Because of her heart defect?” 

“That’s being looked at.”

“Okay, so we’ll be sure to keep a really close eye on her. Should we get one of those monitors?” Puck asks. 

“She doesn’t seem to have a problem with sleep apnea. We definitely suggest you get a bassinet for your room, keep her close by,” Loraine says. 

“Yeah, okay,” Puck says as he nods. “Is there anything else we need to know for the first twenty-four, thirty-six hours?” 

“Any time she seems even remotely hungry, feed her. No pacifiers. Keep track of her wet and dirty diapers. We’ll send you home with a scale, and we’d like you to log her weight once a day.”

Puck nods. “That makes sense. Mostly let her sleep and eat?” 

“Hold her as much as possible. Physical contact is so important to development, and it should help encourage her to eat more,” Loraine says. “Plus, look at that baby. How could you not want to hold that sweet baby girl all day?”

Puck smiles. “Yeah, rough job, huh?”

“I feel sorry for the both of you,” Loraine says, winking at Puck. 

 

_Finn paced back and forth across the waiting room. Puck didn’t look much better off, though he at least managed to sit still. Finn wouldn’t have imagined feeling like that even a few months prior, but now his entire world focused on one small baby girl and the team of surgeons that operated on her._

_“How much longer, do you think?” Finn asked Puck, mid-pace._

_Puck sighed. “They said it could be quite a while still, remember? No one told us we’d need a sedative.”_

_“I think I need two sedatives,” Finn said. “I can’t stand it. What if something goes wrong?”_

_“Don’t think that way,” Puck said with a small shudder. “She’ll be fine. She’s gotten so much stronger already.”_

_“She’s bigger, yeah, but is she really strong enough for this?”_

_“They wouldn’t have scheduled it if she wasn’t. Right?” Puck said._

_Finn sighed and sat down next to Puck. “I guess. I hope.”_

_Puck reached over and took Finn’s hand. “They’ll come tell us she’s in recovery soon. Okay?”_

_“Okay,” Finn said, putting his other hand on top of Puck’s. “I didn’t know I could feel like this. I didn’t realize this is what it would be like.”_

_“Yeah. I know. It’s a lot less theoretical and a lot more heart-in-throat.”_

_“I can’t stand the idea of something happening to her.”_

_“Me either,” Puck said. “And what if Children Services decides to put Marqui back with her mom?”_

_“They won’t. There’s no way. She won’t go to the classes. I don’t think she even cares!” Finn said._

_“I don’t get that. I don’t get it at all. How does she not care?”_

_Finn shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe she can’t. Maybe caring isn’t something she can do.”_

_“Maybe not.” Puck squeezed Finn’s hand. “If we stare harder at the door, will someone walk in?”_

_“I don’t know, but we should try it and see if it works.”_

_“I wish hers had been one of the ones that closes on its own.”_

_Finn squeezed Puck’s hand back. “Yeah, me too. No baby should have to have this kind of surgery.”_

_“Can you imagine having to do this kind of thing every day? The surgeons, I mean? That’d be really sad.”_

_“She should have had this done months ago,” Finn said. “I’m so mad at her mother. I don’t think I’ve ever been as mad at somebody before.”_

_“Yeah. It’s so unfair to her,” Puck said._

_“I know the goal is supposed to be to reunite the families. I took all those classes. I just don’t want Marqui to go back to that woman. I don’t think she’s safe there,” Finn said._

_“Loraine hasn’t mentioned it lately, though. Reuniting, I mean,” Puck said. “You think it’s changed for Marqui?”_

_Finn shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know. If they aren’t sending her back, what are they doing with her? What if…”_

_“The only other long-term option’s permanent placement. I mean, if they think she’d be better off without reuniting with her mom, she’d be…” Puck made a face. “Available’s such a weird way to think about a baby.”_

_“Would you want to?” Finn asked. “If they were looking for somebody. Could that somebody be us?”_

_“Would you want her to go to anyone_ else _?” Puck countered. “Because, God, that sounds awful.”_

_“No, I want her to stay with us. I love her. If she can’t go back to her mother, I want her to stay with us,” Finn said._

_“Okay. We can tell Loraine when she calls to check on Marqui after the surgery.”_

_“I know we technically only went into this with the plan to foster parent. You’re one-hundred-percent on dropping the ‘foster’ part?”_

_“The important part’s what she needs, not what we call it, you know?” Puck said._

_“This parenting thing is_ hard _,” Finn said._

_“Yeah, the classes definitely didn’t warn us about that.”_

 

Puck can’t quite stop himself from reaching over to Finn and Marqui and tugging on her dress to straighten it for what’s probably the fifth or sixth time since they arrived to sign all the paperwork for her adoption. 

“You wouldn’t know how underweight she was nine months ago,” Puck says, making a face for Marqui to imitate. Marqui makes the face back at him and laughs.

“You wouldn’t know she had a hole in her heart, either, unless you saw the scar,” Finn says. Marqui squirms in his arms. “No, you don’t need to get down here.”

“She says ‘You’re not the boss of me, Dad’,” Puck says. 

“I am the boss of you, Marquette Hudman, and don’t you forget it,” Finn says, then promptly sets Marqui down on her feet. She stomps around the two of them, sometimes a little wobbly, until Loraine, the attorney, and the notary come back out with the paperwork. 

“Ready?” Puck says quietly to Finn. 

“Yeah, let’s do it quick, before Marqui gets away!” Finn says, as Marqui starts to toddle towards the door. “No, Marqui, stay here with Dad and Pop.”

“I told you, she says we’re not the bosses of her,” Puck says. He scoops Marqui up and blows a raspberry on her forehead before nodding at Loraine. “I think we’re ready.”

“Here you go,” Loraine says, handing them the papers and a pen. 

“Sign, then swap?” Puck asks Finn. 

“Yup.” Finn quickly scribbles his name onto all the spots marked with brightly-colored sticky tabs, then initials the boxes the attorney points out. He holds his arms out for Marqui, taking her from Puck. 

Puck repeats the process, signing next to or under Finn’s name in each spot before initialing and setting down the pen. “That’s it?” 

Loraine nods. “Congratulations, Noah and Finn, and congratulations to you, too, Miss Marqui Hudman!”

“Thank you, Loraine,” Finn says, holding out his hand for Loraine’s. 

“Oh, believe me, I’m the one who owes the two of you the thanks,” Loraine says as she shakes Finn’s hand. “And I’m afraid I’m not quite done with the two of you yet.”

“More paperwork?” Puck asks. 

“Marqui’s birth mother is pregnant again,” Loraine says. “In light of the parental rights termination for Marqui, and because she’s refused to implement any of the changes we asked, it’s very likely this baby will be removed from her custody immediately after birth. We addressed this with her, but she still is unwilling to make changes.”

“Where’s the baby going to go?” Puck asks, looking over at Finn.

“Well… we were hoping he could go to you,” Loraine says. 

“He?” Puck says. “How pregnant?” 

“She’s due in about three months.”

“Wow, so Marqui and the baby would only be 18 months apart?” Finn asks. Loraine nods, looking a little sad. “Wow.”

“We’ll have to talk about it, I guess,” Puck says slowly, looking between Loraine and Finn, then at Marqui. “It’s good for siblings to stay together if they can.” 

“We agree, which is why we wanted to ask you first, before we looked into alternate placement,” Loraine says. 

“Yeah. Okay. We’ll let you know?” Puck says. 

“And we’ll keep you both updated,” Loraine says. “Marqui was pre-term, so there’s a chance this baby could come early as well. Of course, we’re hoping that isn’t the case, but there are still lifestyle choices at play that can impact that.”

“I don’t know if that makes me more mad or sad,” Finn says, hugging Marqui tightly enough that she squirms to be put down again. “Sorry, Marqui! Dad’s just glad to have you.”

“She probably remembered that we told her there’d be ice cream after this,” Puck says. 

“Go get that girl her ice cream,” Loraine says, shooing them towards the door. “We’ll be in touch.”

“Thanks, Loraine,” Puck says over his shoulder as they leave. He waits until Marqui is in her carseat and they’re driving to get ice cream before he says anything else to Finn. “What do you think?” 

“An 18-month-old and a newborn?” Finn says. “That’s a lot.”

“Not so much when they’re ten and just turned twelve, but yeah, right now, it’s a lot,” Puck says. “On the other hand, how do we say no?” 

“He’s Marqui’s brother. Of course we want them to be together,” Finn agrees. 

“This is a little crazy, isn’t it?” 

“This whole thing is crazy. We signed up to foster, and now we’re talking about being full-time legal parents for two kids under the age of two!” Finn says. 

“I’m kind of already mad that he might be preterm,” Puck says. “Not generically mad, but like how dare she not carry our kid to full term kind of mad.” 

“I just don’t understand it. So many of the other parents of foster kids do everything they can to get their kids back, and this woman not only doesn’t care about Marqui, she’s having another baby she doesn’t give a shit about?” Finn shakes his head. “What is _wrong_ with her?”

Puck shrugs. “There’s probably stuff even Loraine doesn’t know. The important thing, I guess, is that she doesn’t do anything to hurt him.” 

“If they’re taking him right away, at least the only shit she can do is prenatal,” Finn says. “I just hope he doesn’t have to go through what Marqui did, with the surgery. I don’t want any baby to have to be put through that.”

“At least we’d be able to get anything taken care of at the right time, not months later,” Puck says. “I think we’re both saying ‘yes’.” 

“I guess we are.”

“Marqui’s going to be a big sister,” Puck says. “We’d better start shopping, I guess.” 

 

_Finn had just put Marqui’s lunch in front of her when the phone rang. The incoming number was already in Finn’s phone, one he recognized well, Summit County Children Services._

_“Finn Hudman,” he said into the phone._

_“Mr. Hudman, this is Nicki Jankowski with Summit County Children Services. I have a note on this file to inform you that the Watson baby has been born, at Akron General.”_

_“The… who?” Finn asked. “Oh, Marqui’s brother! Okay. Do we need to go down there now? I mean, ___can _we?”_

__“The hospital will want to observe him for twenty-four hours, but yes, you can go to the hospital before that time period is up,” Nicki Jankowski said._ _

__“Great! I’ll get my husband and we’ll be there soon,” Finn said._ _

__“When you arrive, check in with the Akron General social worker,” Nicki Jankowski said. “Thank you.”_ _

__“Yeah, we will. Thanks!” Finn ended the call and sat down next to Marqui and her lunch. “Guess what, Marqui? You’re a big sister! Your brother’s here!”_ _

__Marqui mostly looked unimpressed and went back to eating her apples and peanut butter, since peanut butter had recently turned into the only protein she was willing to eat, which meant she ate it at least twice a day. Finn called Puck while he waited for Marqui to finish._ _

__“Hey,” Puck said when he answered. “Good timing, I just started lunch.”_ _

__“Think you can duck out to go with me and Marqui to Akron General?” Finn asked._ _

__“Ak—oh! Baby time?” Puck said._ _

__“Yeah, he was just born a little while ago,” Finn said. “They’re holding him for 24 hours, but we can go visit him!”_ _

__“Awesome. Do you want to meet there, or have me swing by home?”_ _

__“We should just meet there. I don’t have any real information about him yet, so once we see him and find out how big he is, Marqui and I can do some shopping.”_ _

__“Okay, see you there,” Puck said._ _

__Finn tucked his phone back into his pocket right as Marqui held up her peanut butter–covered hands. “Okay, let me get the washcloth,” Finn told her. He wiped up her hands and then changed her equally–peanut buttery shirt for a clean one, then he took her to the car and loaded her into her seat to drive to the hospital._ _

__Finn’s car and Puck’s both pulled into the parking lot at Akron General at almost the same time. Puck walked to Finn’s car while Finn unbuckled Marqui’s car seat. “Hey, Marqui!” Puck said. “Hey, you.”_ _

__“Hey, Pop,” Finn said, pulling Marqui from the car and then standing so they could both give Puck a kiss._ _

__“What’s she think about having a brother?” Puck asked. “Non-interest?”_ _

__“She thinks that peanut butter is still the best thing ever,” Finn said._ _

__Marqui reached for Puck with a “Pop! Pop!”_ _

__“Hey, Miss Marqui,” Puck said as he took her. “You ate peanut butter for lunch?”_ _

__“Hi!” Marqui said. “Pop!”_ _

__“Can you say ‘yes’?” Puck asked. “Yes?”_ _

__“Ess!”_ _

__“Good job!” Puck held up his hand. “High five for Pop?” Marqui held up her hand and smacked Puck’s._ _

__“Ready to go in?” Finn asked._ _

__“Let’s go meet the new little guy,” Puck agreed, shifting Marqui back into Finn’s arms again._ _

__Puck and Finn, still carrying Marqui, walked into the hospital and were directed to the hospital social worker. The social worker checked their IDs, had them sign some forms left for them, then escorted them up to the nursery. One of the neonatal nurses brought the baby into a small room set up with a glider and several other seats. Puck carefully took the baby and sat down in the glider._ _

__“I forgot how light he’d be,” Puck said. “I wonder how much he weighs.”_ _

__“I think it’s in the papers,” Finn said. He set Marqui down on the floor with one of her toys and shuffled through the papers. “Looks like just under seven pounds. Nothing in the paperwork about any medical conditions.”_ _

__“That’s good,” Puck said softly. “Hey, little guy. We have to give you a name now.”_ _

__“Are we allowed to do that?” Finn asked._ _

__“I feel weird calling him ‘baby boy’ or ‘little guy’,” Puck said. “We can just, you know, not mention to them we named him yet.”_ _

__“That’s true,” Finn said. “Marqui, what do you want to name your brother?”_ _

__Marqui looked up at her name, then back down at her toy, a brightly-painted wooden truck. She held the truck up for Finn to look at._ _

__“I don’t think we can name him ‘Truck’,” Finn said._ _

__“‘Truck’ is pretty cool, but no. Probably not ‘Dodge Ram’ either,” Puck said._ _

__“Or just plain ‘Dodge’.”_ _

__Marqui held the truck up again. “Tup!”_ _

__“Or probably ‘Ford’,” Finn said. “That sounds like an old man name.”_ _

__“It sounds like he’s named after the president, not a truck. Chevy?”_ _

__“Oooh, I like it!”_ _

__“Chevy Hudman,” Puck said. “What do you think, Chevy?” Chevy opened his eyes briefly, then closed them again._ _

__“That looked like a ‘yes’ vote to me,” Finn said. “What do you think, Marqui? Baby Chevy?” He picked Marqui up and set her on his lap so she could look at the baby. “Is that baby Chevy?”_ _

__Marqui pointed at Chevy. “Baby.”_ _

__“Yeah, he’s your baby brother,” Puck said. “Try to say ‘brother’.”_ _

__“Baby!”_ _

__“Close enough,” Finn said._ _

__“You want to hold him?” Puck asked._ _

__“Sure. Maybe Marqui can help me,” Finn said, shifting her onto one knee and reaching for Chevy. Puck carefully transferred Chevy to Finn._ _

__“Gentle, Marqui,” Puck said._ _

__“Baaaaaybeee,” Marqui said, patting Chevy on the head as Finn pulled him close. “Baby. Baby!”_ _

__“Gentle,” Puck repeated._ _

__“Hi baby, hi,” Marquis said, patting Chevy a little more gently._ _

__“Good girl,” Finn said. “You’re a good big sister.”_ _

__Puck laughed quietly. “Why do I think ‘gentle’ is going to be something we start saying a lot?”_ _

__Marquis put her hand on Chevy’s face, patting him on his nose. “Hi baby!”_ _

__“Probably that’s why,” Finn said._ _

_Puck laughs to himself as he and Finn try to quietly hang decorations during naptime. “You know who we should have asked about the decorations?”_

_“Who?” Finn asks._

_“Us!” Puck says. “First birthday’s really more about us making it twelve months, right?”_

_“Our baby survived! Let’s have a party!”_

_“Well, yeah, exactly. And we aren’t totally sleep-deprived, either,” Puck says._

_“High five!” Finn says, holding up his hand in Puck’s direction. Puck laughs and slaps at Finn’s hand._

_“If we get the decorations up in the next fifteen minutes, do we get a nap?” Puck asks._

_“If we get them up in five minutes, we could get a nap with some fooling around,” Finn says._

_“I didn’t mention if we were going to sleep during that nap,” Puck says, stepping close enough to Finn to kiss him. “I am a little bit going to be glad when they’re both out of diapers.”_

_“Maybe we could potty-train Chevy early. We’ll just train ’em both. Marqui’s almost there.”_

_“Chevy’s going to cruise to the bathroom?” Puck says. “I think we just have to face the diaper-filled reality of our lives.”_

_“Shhh. I can dream,” Finn says. “I’m a dreamer. I dream big. I dream of a diaper-free life.”_

_“No one’s going to know if we don’t put up the last package of decorations.”_

_“So you’re saying we should skip straight to the non-sleeping fooling-around nap?”_

_Puck grins widely. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”_


End file.
